The owners of a small trucking business in Mulberry are adding a 70,000-square-foot cold storage facility to their operations that supports food wholesalers, retailers and manufacturing customers in the state.
Darren Winstead and Doug Bowen, longtime friends and business partners in Doug's Produce, a transporter of perishable items, said they wanted to expand their logistics options as demand for warehousing, inventory management and other services increases.
To meet customer needs, the duo recently established Compass Cold Storage LLC and partnered with Ti Cold, the company that developed the refrigeration technology and plans for the new facility.
The $24 million project is expected to be ready by early 2023.
A spokesperson with the Arkansas Economic Development Commission said the project currently has no incentive agreements with the state.
Once completed, the Compass Cold Storage facility has the potential to freeze products faster than competitors. Winstead said Ti Cold's technology will allow the facility to freeze items in half the time compared with traditional blast chambers.
The building is designed to store perishable goods at temperatures between 40 degrees and minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit and can accommodate more than 8,500 pallet positions.
The market for third-party logistics providers, which offer storage and other services to large companies, is expected to grow rapidly as retailers and manufacturers focus more on their core businesses and the e-commerce industry develops, according to Allied Market Research. Companies have also leaned heavily on third-party logistics groups in response to covid-19 related demands.
In addition to cold storage, customers are going to have access to Doug's Produce temperature-controlled trucks.
Bowen said the name of the trucking company is an icebreaker of sorts. In the early days, the business handled mostly produce with truckers traveling back and forth from Florida, he said. It has changed over the years, with the addition of customers tied to the state's meat and poultry industries, but the name has stayed the same.
"Cold storage sets us up to have a well-rounded program," Bowen said.
An initial 30 jobs are expected to be created from the project. Bowen said more jobs will be added with continued expansions. He and Winstead own about 189 acres around Industrial Park Drive, where Doug's Produce is located and Compass Cold is scheduled for development. Bowen said there are plans to continue expansion of the cold storage space with the potential for railroad spur access.
"This is just the start," he said.
As part of the cold storage project, the number of available trucks is increasing. There are plans to add 27 trucks by the end of the year, increasing Doug's Produce fleet to 75 tractors and 100 trailers.
With these additions, Winstead said his team is doing a small part to help the community of Mulberry.
"We are small, hometown folks and we want to see it grow," he said.
A groundbreaking is scheduled for April 20.